Plum Concubine (Sequel to Long Spell of Rain)
by Lian-hua
Summary: Warning: This story deals with the issue of rape
1. Default Chapter

Plum Concubine Disclaimer: Mulan and Shang belong to Disney, it's a well-established fact. Even though, deep in heart, I honestly believe Shang is mine. *sigh* 

Rating: This gets a big fat R for subject matter. This story contains the sensitive issue of rape. Please do not read if this will upset you. 

Description: After the deaths of Wu Zetian and Taiping, women in China began to feel the oppression of the patriarchy. This is a story of one woman who, because of this, was forced to accept less than what she hoped for.

PLUM CONCUBINE 

A sequel to "The Long Spell of Rain"   
By Pooky a.k.a Lian-hua 

~ * ~ 

"Treasure this fragile beauty who once served the purple throne,   
Leadened, grey and weary, I seek her artless innocence,   
Painted and clothed, she seems as lovely as before,   
But her bright eyes regard me without their former sparkle."

~ Emperor Xuanzong   
755 A.D.

~ * ~ 

Part One 

The laughter of the women was more hushed and ceaseless than even the splashing of the fountain. Five flushed faced bright with scandalized interest pressed together for a closer look at what Lady Jiang was reading. Her countenance shone the most piqued of all, eyes sparkling in nothing less than rapport as she voiced the tawdry words with such exuberance.   
  
"'...and then he cast off the lavish red slipper which had so inflamed his lust, taking her tiny naked foot in the palm of his hand, cradling it as carefully as the sky does the new moon. With a shudder of passion he brought the white lily to his mouth, tasting the perfumed skin...'"   
  
A shocked gasp interrupted her. "He put it in his mouth?"   
  
Lady Jiang nodded, slapping a hand over her own mouth to stifle an excited giggle before continuing. "'My love,' the Princess cried in pleasure and protest, 'you are only a guard and I am to marry the Tartar prince.' And the brave soldier scoffed and set her little foot down. 'I will slay the Tartar prince and all of their wicked race.' The princess swooned and said, 'and if you die I'll plunge my hairpin through my heart and follow after you.' With that promise the soldier laid her on her back, lifted her skirt and gazed at her white thighs that were like slender pillars in the temple. 'First let me teach you the Tao of love,' said he. And so he bent his head and drank from her vast spring.'"   
  
The rush of laughter swept over the quiet pavilion, three of the listeners hiding crimson cheeks behind their hands while the fourth snickered and snatched the book up scornfully. "What is this nonsense?" The jaded voice demanded. "I've been wed six months and it never happens like this! I lay on my back, close my eyes and pray to Buddha that my husband falls asleep before he even gets his pants off. On our wedding night I was so bored during the whole encounter that I started counting sheep in my head. I think I only got to ten before it was done."   
  
"Well no wonder, he's a decaying piece of flesh!" Xing Bai roared, laughing so hard that her shoulders shook. Zhi Tingting glowered at the other girl, than joined her in her laughter.   
  
Lady Jiang was still smiling, even with her book taken away from her. "But Mulan's husband isn't," she reminded in all her saccharine deviousness. "And she hasn't said this is all nonsense. Tell us, Mulan, what's it like to be with a man?"   
  
Mulan felt her cheeks grow warm when all eyes were suddenly fixed on her. She had been just as entertained as the other ladies by the bawdy tale, there was nothing in her village that had ever come close - that was fascinating in itself. Village women were not allowed to read. "Why should I tell you?" She brushed her friend off with a teasing smile. "No one told me anything." Folding her arms in a guarded way she added. "I doubt any real man would say those words, though."   
  
Nodding enthusiastically, Tingting took up the book and began leafing through the pages. "Let's see what other awful lies this soldier says to this girl. I'll bet she gets with child and he leaves, and you can guess who gets the blame. When she drowns herself in shame it won't be very romantic will it, Lady Jiang?" Tingting continued flipping her way through the book, clicking her tongue whenever she stopped to read.   
  
All of a sudden Lady Jiang flung out her hand. "Oh, no, Tingting, don't!"   
  
It was too late, a folded bit of parchment slipped from between the pages, spiraling in the breeze until it landed on the grass between them. The two women scrambled to retrieve it, but much to Lady Jiang's dismay Tingting was the first to snap it up.   
  
"It's... it's just a poem," Lady Jiang confessed to her friend nervously.   
  
Curious, the other woman unfolded the paper, looking over the words with an intrigued smirk before reading them aloud. By this time Lady Jiang had gone scarlet. 

> Behind the silken curtain of my crimson nest   
Awaits the passions of clouds and rain   
The Jade Gate pools with sweet dew   
Granting passage to an erupting cannon

"Lady Jiang!" Mulan exclaimed, behind the hand clasped over her mouth in astonishment. "What if your father found that?"   
  
Tearing her poem from Tingting's hand, Lady Jiang clutched it protectively to her chest and stuck her lip out haughtily, raising her chin. "Oh please," she scoffed. "He'd probably be proud and show all his friends. He's excepted that I'm a grown woman now, and that Emperor Xuanzong is going to take me for his Empress. Imagine the grand wedding we'll have," her huffiness broke off into wistful fascination. "I can just imagine my red bridal chamber now, and him pulling my red veil from my face. A man with those martial skills, I'll bet he's wild in between the sheets." At that, everyone threw their heads back and laughed.   
  
"It is a pretty poem," Mulan smiled.   
  
Tingting shook her head. "He's the Emperor, girl, what if he solicits you before?"   
  
Tugging her shawl in indignation, Lady Jiang rose to her feet. "That's indecent!" she huffed primly, starting to turn away, leaving Tingting snickering at her back.   
  
It took a moment for Mulan to see what Tingting found so funny, the pillars of the pavilion blocking her view where she knelt on the grass with the other girls. As soon as Lady Jiang turned around to stomp off, the new Emperor and his entourage of generals appeared around the corner. Mulan cringed a little to see that Shang strode just behind his right shoulder, maintaining a measured distance as he moved, hands at his sides, red cloak swaying behind him. She was just as displeased as he that the Emperor kept him in such close company, closer than the other two generals bringing up the rear.   
  
"What's indecent?" Li Longji intruded with the cockiness of a teenage boy. Just because he was the Emperor he needn't think he was welcome everywhere he went. But Lady Jiang had stopped short, letting her hands fall gracefully at her sides and dropping her gaze demurely.   
  
Without waiting for an answer, he picked up the book Tingting still held and flipped through the pages in the same disdainful manner as she, pursing his lips and tapping his foot as his eyes skimmed the words.   
  
Tossing it to the ground, he turned to Shang, laughing, as if about to tell the richest joke in the world. "What's the difference between a court lady and a whore?"   
  
Shang blinked warily, folding his arms. "I don't know." He was staring at her.   
  
"Exactly," He continued laughing while Mulan and her friends retained an awkward silence. Under the mask of humility upon her lowered face, Tingting was hiding her rage. The insult had been directed at her.   
  
"Your Majesty," Lady Jiang bowed, seemingly unaware that her friend was even upset. But of course, she'd rather have harsh words with Tingting than let herself appear lewd and unsuitable in Li Longji's eyes. "How unexpected. Do you require something?"   
  
Shang still had his arms crossed, his weight on one foot, still as the statue of the fountain itself. He did not like Lady Jiang, he made as much effort to hide it as he did to explain it, very little. Whatever it was, it came down to him describing her as petty, naive and vain. That opinion seemed to hold now as he glared at her, disapproving of the way she allowed the blame to be pinned on her friend, such dishonor never set well with him.   
  
The broad shouldered emperor eyed his slim admirer up and down, acquainting himself with every curve and line of her form right before her friends. His eyes shown with a cruel kind of lust, not the avid reverence with which he was wont to gaze at Taiping, but something so covetous it did not even seem suitable in private. It was a mark of a warrior king, shaped by the brutal years out on the field. Everything was a trophy, a conquerable prize. Mulan could not fathom such an empty existence.   
  
"My lady," his smile became suddenly gentle. "I came only to gaze at you."   
  
There it was, that one spark of chivalry, those few tender words, that gave everyone around a glimpse of who he might have been.   
  
Lady Jiang looked unsteady, her hand to her breast. "Your Majesty is too kind." She was blushing so horribly Mulan had half a mind to throw the girl into the pool.   
  
"General Fa," Longji turned away from her just as quickly. "Come, we expect a bad storm tonight. We want to move some the men where it will be easier to keep the watch. Come."   
  
With no choice but to leave her friends, Mulan rose, falling in beside Shang as they turned down the path again. She glanced up briefly at the sky, under the pavilion's roof she hadn't noticed the clouds coming in. 

~ * ~   
  
Mulan was glad for the warm comfort of her bedchamber when the rain began to stream down that evening, slanting torrents beating the windows along with the wind that whirled it's way through the hills and mountains surrounding the capital. Here in this part of the country winter came early and left late, thought it was barely autumn now.   
  
She was stretched upon the bed, trying to concentrate on her book though her mind would drift to the rhythm of the storm, so soothing. Her eyes closed, remembering the night she had run away from home, there had been a storm like this. She sighed. It seemed of late she grew more easily sad and wistful, sometimes crying for no reason, finding her duties more exhausting than usual, not to mention the occasional bouts of nausea. There was supposed to be seven more months of this, carrying her child, she had no idea how she was going to endure it.   
  
At least now she had her duties, her men to oversee, her reports to keep track of, and the daily practice drills to keep her on her toes. But there would come a time when it would be too hard and dangerous for her to do these things, for her baby's sake. She could not imagine the perpetual boredom of her days when that time came. It wasn't that she didn't want her baby, she did - not that she knew how to take care of one once it arrived - she only wished.... She didn't know she wished, and then childbirth, Mulan cringed to even touch that with thought.   
  
Her eyes opened at the sound of Shang's footsteps, barefoot on the wooden floor, draped in the white silk pants and shirt after his bath. The flimsy shirt hung open as usual, faintly spotted with water from his skin, the snowy cloth making his tanned chest appear even darker in contrast. Physically, he was such a creature of balance and symmetry, ever ready to erupt into graceful blows and kicks despite his size. Emotionally, he carried a kind of heaviness, the feeling of gravity that drew others into him. In her pacified state, Mulan found this fascinating.   
  
"Is that book suitable to be read in the presence of an unborn child?" He quipped with her freely, in a relatively good mood now. He did not even complain that she had spent the afternoon reading those bawdy novels with Lady Jiang.   
  
She smiled slightly. "It's only a history."   
  
Nodding, he knelt on the bed, peeling the draperies back to stare at storm outside. "I like the rain," he told her suddenly. "Reminds me of my mother. She likes to walk in it, she says feeling Nature's anger helps her understand herself. That never made any sense to me when I was trying to get her inside so she wouldn't catch her death. Then she'd say I must not be afraid of suffering, and she would just walk on through the garden. When she'd come back inside, her clothes would be dry. It's like the rain just rolled right off of her and I would still be soaked through my skin."   
  
Tilting her head slightly, Mulan studied him as he gazed out at the garden. One moment he could be laughing and the next silent as a stone. He had been that way since the day she'd met him. She was the only person he ever really seemed to talk to beyond his usual curt phrases.   
  
"Are you angry at her?" She asked quietly. "For leaving you?"   
  
His brow twitched in surprise but he quickly realized who she meant and shook his head. "No. I just wish I could talk to her again, she always knew what to do." He sighed, pausing a moment before letting the drapes fall closed again, turning around. "It's my cousin, sometimes I wonder how far he'll go to slight me. Maybe it's because Taiping left you and I in charge of the army, and Tai-shan. My cousin always had the army under his thumb, but now he's too busy with the politicians."   
  
"Maybe," Mulan sighed. Was it so hard for these two to settle their differences?   
  
He was peeling the collar of his open shirt back, checking the long scar his father's blade had made across the front of his shoulder. The wound was two months old now, but the sword had torn deeply enough to leave a jagged ruby line across his skin. His forehead was creased in pain, the old injury aching with the moisture in the air.   
  
She eyed him in concern, blowing the candles out. "Do you want something for that?"   
  
He shook his head. Tossing her book aside, she leaned up and wrapped her arms around him from behind, letting the thin silk of his shirt slip to his wrists. He was only half smiling, more amused at her forwardness than anything. Not satisfied with only that, she pressed dozens of kisses to the crimson scar. When she lifted her head he looked back at her with that same broad smile he always returned when receiving something. 

~ * ~   
  
Li Longji fell to his knees on the red rug, bowing his head slightly to receive the slowly placed crown. He smiled, lifting his face, reaching to take Taiping's hands. She stood on the dais steps, arms at her sides, calm and regal as the sunlight played across her white powdered face. It was as if his very heart were lifting, gazing at her, but her eyes dismissed him without their usual fondness.   
  
"And now for you, nephew," her smile was directed at Longji's right. Li Shang knelt as he was, the same proud carriage, the same expectant face. Longji wished his cousin would go away, some far corner of the kingdom beyond the reach of Taiping's favoring eye.   
  
She stepped back, turning in a graceful swirl of flimsy silk garments. From the throne behind her, she lifted a sword into her arms, moving back to Shang and placing it in his. He frowned at the thing, but smiled up at her dutifully. "This is... a great honor."   
  
Laying a gentle hand on his shoulder, she returned his smile. "You are commander of all China's forces now. You are the only one I trust with this duty."   
  
Longji felt his heart crumble, his anger flare with those words. After he had conquered cities, won victories, fought battles for ten years? She gave the army to him? Soldiers fought and died for him, placed their lives in his hands after one command, one hand signal, and she would give that up to Li Shang? Li Shang, so handsome and honorable and famous now for leading a ragtag group of peasants into saving the Imperial City, for pardoning a girl soldier who had saved them all. He was too young, too naive, too inexperienced. Longji's veins swelled with hatred to see Taiping gaze at his cousin so fondly, after she had been so cold to him, not even a smile.   
  
Lunging for Li Shang, he seized the other man by the throat. He would share his power with no one, he would share Taiping with no one. He would kill Li Shang.   
  
"Stop!" she commanded roughly, flinging out a hand, her face drawn in panic for her precious nephew. He was gasping for air, face scarlet, fighting to pull Longji's hand away.   
  
"He has to die!" Longji hissed bitterly, lifting his eyes to her in hurt and rage. He felt so betrayed.   
  
Without a word, Taiping turned, stepping from the dais and gliding out of the room.   
  
Dropping the struggling Li Shang, Longji ran after her. "You promised you would never leave me!" He cried as she slipped through the doors. "You promised we would always be together!" His hands reached for her blindly as he ran. She seemed to gain speed the faster he moved, sweeping just above the floor in a billowing train of silk... Taiping, Taiping, he called in his mind, his heart would break if he could not touch her again. "You've left me anything but peace!" 

  
It was the wet sting of tears that woke him. The pain of Taiping's loss broke afresh. For two months now he had suffered through bitter dreams like this, all ending with the same pain and violence. Sometimes Li Shang was his captive, chained and helpless, promising he would never return to Ch'ang-an, sometimes he lashed at Shang with a sword. They always ended the same, no matter how Longji assaulted his cousin, with Taiping turning away from him.   
  
His mind had been so occupied the last days of her life that he hadn't given a thought then to how clever her last plan was. In those days, she had left Li Shang in charge of the army, he and Meng Tai-shan, and now Fa Mulan who was a symbol of victory for the common soldier. Taiping had a left, promoting Shang the highest ranking general, second only to him. She had in a sense created two equal rulers, one of the army, the other of the state, two rivals balancing out each other. It seemed harmless and logical, but leadership in that time of instability had gained Shang too much influence, giving Longji no choice but to let it continue when curbing it might mean some unrest among the soldiers. Maybe Shang didn't seek out the powerful and mighty, didn't curry favor - he wasn't even of what Taiping had done. But it did not matter, the soldiers liked him too much. Well, he had planned a surprise for Shang tonight that he hoped would frighten him away from the city.   
  
Shang, the way he sauntered around like some handsome god, as if every gesture of respect was a gift. His cousin was never insolent and hardly even talkative, but there was clear resentment behind those pretty eyes, a proud resentment, a declaration of moral superiority. Was that why Taiping had left her last words to him instead? How could she cause him such pain?   
  
In deep vexation, Li Longji clenched his fists, then wiped his tear streaked face with the blanket. He rose, donning a shirt. He just needed some strong liquor and a walk outside to clear his head. 

~ * ~   
  
The steady lull of the rain was a calming inspiration as Lady Jiang sketched thoughtful words on the parchment. She bit her lip in remembered annoyance at the primness of her friends. What was wrong with writing poems about her desires? Girls, as if they never thought the same things themselves.   
  
Perhaps she should not be out here in the garden alone, in the rain and the chill of the autumn night. But she worked best in the late hours. Putting her brush down, she sighed and looked out of the pavilion, the raindrops rippling in the pool before her, the whole garden gleamed as if from behind a curtain of silver, the moonlit droplets like the dust of crystal upon everything. It was so fresh, so beautiful, the simple vitality of it. To her the rain was the very essence of passion itself   
  
As if answering that thought, a figure came staggering along the path. She would have known him anywhere, this tall and muscular warrior, his body cut from the same stone as the statues. It was amazing how much he resembled Mulan's husband, only with larger eyes and thinner brows.   
  
He was clearly drunk though, and that thought met her with some alarm. What if someone were to see this and attack him? Thinking it the perfect chance to be rid of the new king? He must be careful, she reminded herself to warn him, enough men had died here for their carelessness. But she wondered what would trouble him to drink at this hour? Surely he wasn't the sort to be kept awake by gambling and so on, like ordinary men. She had heard of his reputation as a playboy, but she was sure he was in love with her.   
  
Lady Jiang found herself shrinking back a bit into the shadows when he spotted her. But his eyes were already fixed, calling out to her. "Lady Jiang, you can't run away!" There was the rough edge of a threat to those words as he came forward forcefully.   
  
"Your Majesty, I wouldn't dare," she managed when he was close enough. There was something peculiar about him now, his eyes slightly wild, his look too angry and intense. She thought he seemed ready to tear the entire pavilion apart the way he was clenching his fists.   
  
The Emperor glanced at the ink and paper she had left on the bench when rising to meet him. "Recite me a poem," he demanded hoarsely, slurring his words. She recoiled at the stench of liquor on his breath as he leaned forward. "Like the one your friend read today. Whisper it in my ear now."   
  
She froze despite his orders, her knees turning to water. He had overheard, he knew how she desired him, wanted to marry him. Her heart was beating fast, he must think her such a whore! With no choice, she swallowed roughly, and moved nearer to him, stumbling over her words. 

> My lover's body is like hard jade   
though I yield to him as an open river   
together we bend and sway like bamboo   
enjoying the taste of sweet water

His eyes closed, imagining the picture, his breathing growing more heavy, aroused by the words. She stepped back, this was too improper.   
  
Suddenly he seized her by the shoulders and pressed her back against him, one hand covering her mouth. She tried in vain to scream, to bite his hand, her own hands flailing for some freedom. It was no use, he pushed her face down on the bench and she dared not fight too much for fear of her life. He was the Emperor. Her skin was crawling with fear, her mind trying to push this nightmare as far away from her awareness as possible, struggling to block it out. It wasn't supposed to be like this.   
  
Her tears came hard as he yanked up her skirt, her muscles shaking, her throat burning from not being able to cry out. She tried to concentrate on the cold stone bench that scraped against her cheek, tried for all the world not to let herself feel his knee wrenching her legs apart. There was the lash of cold air on bare skin now, stinging the backs of her thighs left exposed and unprotected against his violence. Her sobs shook her uncontrollably at the pain of him tearing into her, so roughly he seemed to forget she could feel anything at all. In those cruel and brutal motions she felt as though he were ripping through her very heart.   
  
The pain stopped, there was nothing but cold air now. She was vaguely aware of his footsteps, backing away, of the stickiness of blood and more against her thigh. Pulling her legs up, she managed to cover herself with her dress again, curling up on her side and crying even harder than the rain pouring down around her. 

~ * ~   
  
Digging her nails into Shang's shoulders, Mulan choked out a high-pitched cry as the peak of pleasure exploded like fireworks from between her thighs. She closed her eyes in the heady rush, lost in the purple flecks that swam behind them, her heartbeat straining, senses dulled to everything but his body dragging erratically across the skin of her breasts.   
  
His head came up suddenly, leaving her skin cold where his warm mouth had been suckling the delicate flesh between her shoulder and neck, his vision just as fuzzy as hers as he sought some focal point in the darkness. He jerked suddenly, sending them rolling several times across the wide bed.   
  
A vase shattered a mere foot from where they had been.   
  
On top of him now, she tried to raise her head towards the source of the sound, until he slipped a hand up the back of her neck, holding her draped against him as he finished the task at hand. She whimpered again despite herself, aftershocks of pleasure tingling almost painfully through her skin. He called her name in a strangled whisper before shuddering tensely and collapsing against the pillow. Her head fell on his chest and they laid thus for a moment, the intrusion ignored altogether.   
  
"Shang?" Mulan was the first to speak. "What was that?"   
  
His breathing was still labored. "I don't know. Someone I'm going to kill." Despite his quick reflexes in throwing both of them out of danger, he sounded unconcerned. Lowering his head, his lips drew on hers demandingly, as if he were quite willing to put aside the matter for another hour.   
  
Mulan quickly pushed him away, the sense of danger bringing her down from her high. "Shang, someone could be trying to kill us and all you can think about is-"   
  
He just laid there and laughed softly. What was the matter with him?   
  
Easing her off of him, he rose to his knees, accepting his shirt from her and wrapping it around himself quickly. Mulan tried to blink to clear her vision as she searched the dark room, there seemed no sign of anything.   
  
"Shang! Mulan!" A voice cried from the outer chamber, someone rapping forcefully on the door. Mulan reached for her night clothes and climbed under the blankets.   
  
"It's Tai-shan," Shang sighed, fully dressed now in plain training clothes. He climbed off the bed quickly, slipping out of the room but leaving the door open to admit an amber sphere of candlelight. Mulan looked around again. There was no one in the room at all. 

~ * ~ 

  
Fully alert now, Shang ran to his friend. Tai-shan was moving forward painfully, clutching his right arm, shirt sleeve smeared with blood under his hand. A small gash down his cheek bled as well, his hair and clothes mussed.   
  
"Tai-shan?" he helped his friend sit on the sofa. "What happened?"   
  
For a long moment the other man tried to catch his breath, letting go of his injured arm to wipe the blood from his face. "I woke up to find this man in my room, with a knife. We fought for awhile but he got away. He ran towards your room and that's why I came to get you, then I saw him out in the garden just a minute ago."   
  
Shang turned back to the doorway. "Mulan, come here!" then he faced Tai-shan again. "I think he was just here. I don't know, I was asleep." Shaking his head, Tai-shan seemed to recognize the lie but let it go. It was just as well, the point was neither he nor Mulan had seen anything enter the room. "Whoever it was, they didn't have very good aim."   
  
"Tai-shan!" Mulan stood in the doorway now, clutching a robe around her. "Shang, help him, he's bleeding."   
  
He shook his head, there was no time for that. "Stay here with him, Mulan, I'm going outside." Without waiting for her answer, Shang brushed passed her for shoes and a good knife. He did not even want to begin to think about who would want him and Tai-shan dead. Two months of relative peace was too much to hope for, Shang thought bitterly as he made his way down the hall to the gardens.   
  
  



	2. part 2

0plum2

Part Two 

~ * ~ 

Shang ran through the curtain of rain as he made his away across the terrace, peering around corners, between trees and down shadow wrought paths as he moved. There was nothing, no fleeting figure, no flicker of movement, nothing in the direction Tai-shan had indicated. 

Giving up, Shang stopped, cursing that he was outside soaking wet and chasing a phantom assassin when he would much rather be asleep. But he had a pregnant wife and an injured best friend, he couldn't let this attack tonight go. Leaning against the pillar of one of the many pavilions, he scanned thoughtfully to get his bearings in this labyrinth of walks, all entwining into the same great pool before him. His gaze fell into the water, thrown into tumultuous rippling by the abundant rainfall, flinging back a wavering mirror of the garden behind him. 

The intensity of his stare deepened, there was something in the reflection on the water's surface that did not belong there. He turned around and saw it in truth. 

A lone woman was curled in the base of a dragon statue, her slender arms clutching her knees, her head over them, her unbound black hair rendered a waterfall as it dripped heedlessly onto her robes. She seemed unaware of it all, the rain, the state of her clothing. For a moment he forgot his attacker altogether, this woman was so pitiful he thought he could not leave without knowing the cause of her distress. 

"My lady?" He sought to catch her attention gently, not wanting to frighten her. 

She slowly lifted her face, as if she recognized his voice. When he saw who she was he stepped back, so familiar and yet her eyes said she was a different person, a destroyed person. Lady Jiang, one of Mulan's closest friends. 

"It's still raining?" Her eyes were clouded and confused. They flinched when they settled upon his face, and she recoiled physically. 

Worried, he stepped closer. "You should come inside. I'll call a guard to walk you to your room if you like." 

"No," she flung a hand fearfully. "No, don't come any closer. I want to stay out here." 

He blinked. Why was she suddenly so wary of him? Mulan had brought her in his company dozens of times. She hadn't been afraid of him when she forced Mulan to dance for him before the coronation. But he let go of that angry thought quickly, something more serious was wrong here. 

"Lady Jiang," he tried again. "If you tell me what's wrong maybe there's something I can do for you. Or I could take you to Mulan and you can tell her." 

"You have his face," her eyes stared blankly for a moment. "Go away." But when he turned to get Mulan anyway she called after him. "Li Shang! May I ask you something?" 

Puzzled, he bowed politely. "If it pleases you." 

"You and Mulan... Before your wedding night, did you ever force her?" 

"What?" He stiffened, nettled at the implication. "Do you think I am a man with no honor? Only a barbarian would do something-" He stopped, her face had blanched, features twisted as though fighting a storm of tears. Shang looked her over once more, the shocked, empty eyes, the disheveled clothing, beginning to realize what had happened to her. No, he had to take her to Mulan, no matter her protest, they had to know who the monster was and bring them to justice. She was just a young girl. 

Shang froze in mid step as her tears broke. "Get him away!" her whisper rasped through the rain. Whirling around to see who she meant, he found himself face to face with Li Longji, dark eyes regarding him with a painful rage. 

"How dare you, _cousin!_" He nearly spat the word. "How dare you have secret meetings with one of my chosen consorts. I'll have you executed!" 

The general stared at him, too much in shock at the accusation to be bothered by the threat. Knowing his hot temper it was likely idle anyway. "What are you talking about? You're the one who attacked her. She told me herself!" 

It was dangerous, very dangerous, to throw in the Emperor's face something that could be seen as slander. It went against his better judgment, the usual rigid caution with which he stepped around the Court. But Lady Jiang's words had only fed a long withstanding hatred, but he would hold on to anything that would make him hate him more. Li Longji was like a thorn in his side, after all these years of their quiet rivalry that was barely understood. 

Instead of answering, the Emperor stiffened, clenched his fist, eyes narrowed as he crouched. Gaining momentum from a spin, he landed a kick in Shang's chest. Staggering back, the general fought to keep his balance, recover his breath, blocking Longji's next blow with his hand before he could kick again. Sending him teetering several steps, Shang turned and ran, leaping over the terrace steps, hoping Longji would calm himself and forget it. 

But footsteps pounded on the ground after him, Shang spun to see Longji jumping from the base of a statue, only a few feet behind him now. There was no choice but to fight. Adopting a ready stance, he waited for the Emperor to land before shifting forward and striking a blow to his jaw. Longji swore, his lip bleeding, returning the effort with a punch in the eye. Shang froze, rubbing the sore flesh with a hand before erupting into motion again, trying to flee his cousin a second time. He could not duel the emperor, it wasn't worth the price. A long shadow fell over him and then the shifting of boots, Shang blinked through the rain to see Longji standing in front of him now, poised to lunge again. 

The sound of more boots echoed through the trees, the flash of swords beaded with rain. "Your Majesty!" The Guards poured onto the terrace, flanking the Emperor and holding out their weapons. 

Li Longji flung out a hand, still crouched like a tiger on the wide stone steps. "Stand back!" He ordered them, his voice deep and bellowing through the once quiet garden. "Withdraw! He's mine!" 

Without waiting to see if he was obeyed, Longji balanced himself and ran forward again. Shang jumped back, raising his leg to kick the other man down, but Longji had put more force in the move than he anticipated. Seizing his foot, his cousin pulled him to the ground, throwing his weight over him as they rolled down the terrace steps. Shang struggled for freedom under the body that pinned him down, kicking to free his legs where they were entangled with Longji's, yanking away his wrists that his cousin was trying to hold fast to the ground. Longji was heavy, every inch of him pressed against Shang as if he were trying to break him with his weight alone. 

They landed on the grass, Longji under him now, hooking one leg around his knee so he could not rise, his arms locked around Shang's waste. 

"What do I have to do," Longji panted in Shang's ear, both of them exhausted from the struggle. "To keep you from defying me." 

Shouts echoed through the garden, Shang felt hands prying him away from Longji's grasp. Imperial Guards to arrest him no doubt, despite the Emperor's orders. 

"Stop it," Mulan pleaded from his left. Shang looked to either side of him. There were no Imperial Guards at all, just Mulan and Tai-shan. He let them pull him to his feet, clothes torn, bruised and scraped from the fight. 

Longji rose to his knees as Shang was led away, just as disheveled as he was. "Li Shang!" he roared after him furiously. "I will kill you! Stay out of my dreams! I won't share her with you!" 

"Come on, Shang" Tai-shan had an arm draped around his shoulders, helping him up the steps. 

Nodding, Shang looked over his shoulder again. His cousin was still kneeling there in the rain, shaking he was so angry. But Lady Jiang was no where in sight. 

~ * ~ 

"Ah, stop!" The sting of antiseptic made Shang groan. He tried to relax in the hot water filling the tub, but the burning in his forearm had him tense all over again. 

Shaking her head, Mulan dipped the cloth in the water and began wiping the blood from his cheek. He tried to shy away from that too as the rough cloth rubbed his sore and puffy eye, but she held his head against her shoulder with a hand under his chin and continued anyway. Setting the cloth down, she took to kneading her hands into her shoulders. He sighed, it was much more pleasant than the stinging medicine on his scrapes. 

"Why do you hate him so much?" She asked quietly after a moment. 

Squeezing his eyes shut, he tortured himself with that painful emotion, it seemed to settle into every bone in his body. "My mother used to say I could never be a mystic. She said my hate for him was like a seed of corruption, the one thing that would keep me from letting go of the world. Well I never wanted to be one anyway. Why? Because ever since I can remember he's always been the favorite, my father's, Taiping's. He knows it too, and he likes it. My father used to say he wished he could trade us and have him for a son." 

"Is he like you father? Is that why you hate him?" 

"No." Maybe the answer was too quick, but still, there was nothing worse than someone who wasted their life for the wrong things. "I think somewhere inside he's a good man, he's wounded in a way. When he was born, the lady of the house threw him and his mother out. His mother comitted suicide when he was six and he was given to military men and raised by them. They died one after another in the war and so he moved from house to house. He came to live with a general who brought him with him to the Palace, Taiping recognized him and raised him herself until he went to school. I met him sometime later." He recalled his father bringing Longji home, telling him that Longji was a fine example of a man, and his father had cared nothing when Longji had admired Tie-lin so openly. Tie-lin, only thirteen at the time. 

Rising from her knees, Mulan dried her hands and pushed down her sleeves again. "Well, I'm going to bed. Maybe you should soak a while so you won't be sore in the morning." 

"Mulan," he caught her arm before she could turn away. "Tomorrow find your friend, Lady Jiang, make her talk to you. Make her tell you everything. 

She paused, eyes filled with a strange apprehension in the candlelight. Finally she nodded and padded back to the other room. 

~ * ~ 

With a final flourish of his wrist, Shang managed to disarm his opponent, sending the other man's sword flying several feet until it clattered on the ground, raising cheers from the assembled onlookers. Making a little bow of acknowledgment, Shang lowered the _guang dao _to stare down his opponent, sighing. 

"Looks like you have a few more weeks of training, Kuang. Go see General Meng, tell him to write you orders to return to camp at Louyang tomorrow. Tell him to leave a note for my old friend Yao, saying that I'm disappointed in him." 

Puffing out his lip, the short soldier turned away in a pout. Setting the machete aside, Shang frowned. That was the fourth soldier out of seven today who had failed the test to enter Longji's guard. The object was to either defeat him, or at the very least not be disarmed. The _guang dao _wasn't even his best weapon, he preferred hand-to-hand. Since Yao and Ling had been appointed training officers at Louyang, Shang expected some improvement in the caliber of men fit to become bodyguards. Ordinarily, Shang wouldn't be so concerned with his cousin's safety, not after last night anyway, but this was a part of peacetime duty. 

Scanning the soldiers lined up along either side of the hall, Shang's eyes settled on a slender young man who had been watching the entire spectacle excitedly, his eyes too large for his small face. He looked like a girl, in fact he would have made Shang suspicious were the boy not standing there shirtless like the rest of them. It wasn't yet noon, but even in the autumn the day was still sultry. 

"Alright, E'dan," he called to the boy from the center of the hall. "They say you're good. You defeat me hand-to-hand and you make Imperial Guard. Let's go." Shang adopted a fighting stance as the boy stepped forward. 

The doors creaked open, and everyone froze to see Li Longji stride in with half a dozen of his bodyguard. Soldiers dropped prostrate but Shang made do with a little bow, the Emperor did not seem to care or notice. 

"All of you out!" He bellowed without a glance at them. "I wish to speak to General Li!" 

Shang stiffened as the soldiers scurried through the doors. He could not help but take a step towards his machete again when the Emperor waved his guard off as well. 

"Your Majesty," Shang gave another awkward bow. "If it's the state of your bodyguard, I'm-" 

The Emperor cut him off shortly. "I don't care about them. I can beat most of them with my eyes closed. If they think half trained children from Louyang can help me, well... they should look at you and I. We're true warriors, aren't we, Li Shang?" 

His jaw nearly dropped. The words were conversational and even friendly, without any of the rage and madness he had shown last night. He sighed, somewhere inside him there was a decent man, Shang was sure of it. 

"Maybe so, cousin," he answered warily. 

Picking up the _guang dao_, Longji examined it a moment, fingering the red tassel before setting it down again. "You know what impresses the people most? Muscle." Shang froze as the Emperor laid a brief hand on his chest for emphasis. "You should consider commanding my guards. You'd look splendid in one of those uniforms." 

Shang was silent for a moment, trying to puzzle out the motive. "This is my way of honoring Taiping, keeping the duty she left me. I owe her." 

"Of course," A look of pretended understanding crossed his face, but it seemed more of hidden frustration to Shang. "She left you the army. My army," he added more quietly, managing a firm hold over the bitterness that his eyes flashed at those words. Then he blinked, showing nothing but a deep sense of loss. "What I would have given to hold her hand as she died, to beg her please stay with me always, teach me her wisdom and the ways of the world. She was the only one who showed me true love, and now she is gone and I am left with this sense of piety as if she were my mother or my wife, and these dreams of her that will not let me sleep. Do you have them too, cousin?" 

Swallowing hard, Shang slowly shook his head. He refused to pity a rapist and an enemy, but a part of him could not help himself. 

Longji smiled, a kind of melancholy smile. "Then she did leave me something for myself. But where is the peace that she promised me? I feel trapped by her ghost and her crown." Shaking off the subject, he stood in front of Shang, forehead creased in thought. "I heard your wife is with child. Let me offer my congratulations. I'm sure you're glad to finally see her shed her armor and her wild ways. I was hoping, cousin, that you would make her see there is no shame in being a mother and remaining the young lady of your house. There is honor in raising sons. The truth is, I want my reign to be glorious, to wipe out the stain of that whore Wu Zetian. Corruption starts when women rise above themselves. Men signify order and stability, having a female general hurts that. I know you love your country, I know you will persuade her to renounce her rank. It would be the best thing for everyone." 

Shang stared at him in disbelief, trying to keep the anger from showing in his face. So it came down to this? Jealousy over Taiping. When he realized he could not defeat Shang last night he saw a true threat to his power and wanted to remove him. Commanding the guard was a good way to keep a threat under careful watch, and Mulan. Shang doubted it had anything to do with Mulan herself in Longji's eyes, but more that she was an extension of him and this power Longji was envious of. He wouldn't have cared, he would have renounced his rank gladly were it not for Taiping and her final wishes. 

"You are the Emperor," Shang answered evenly. "She's too stubborn to listen to me. Revoke her rank if you feel it's the right thing. You are the Son of Heaven after all." He watched a moment as Longji's eyes narrowed, outwitted. He knew his power as Emperor was not so consolidated, he knew Mulan had gained some influence after killing Anle, and that she was a hero to the people. Revoking her rank would only cause the people's opinion of him to suffer. "By your leave," Shang bowed deeply. "Your humble servant wishes to withdraw." 

Backing away, Shang met the other man's eyes bravely for a moment full of tension and anger. Longji looked away, snatching the machete from the floor. Shang left him there to dance through the forms by himself. 

~ * ~ 

It was late afternoon and still Lady Jiang had not left her rooms. She had been awake all night, muffling her tears into the pillow so the servants would not hear and ask what was wrong. How could she tell any of them? What was her word, or her sorrow worth when pitted against the Son of Heaven? 

Li Shang, she never expected the man would endanger himself on account of her, accusing the Emperor so boldly. She wondered why, was it because she was Mulan's friend? She could not say that she wished he had not said it, but it brought her too much shame to hear it spoken aloud. He had no idea of course, being a man. 

"My lady," the servant appeared, and Lady Jiang rose from her window seat. "His Majesty is here to see you." 

For one unsteady moment, Lady Jiang gazed at the third story window and considered throwing herself through the glass. She had heard it said it was more honorable to die than to survive the shame. It was not exactly fear which sustained her though, it was something else. There must be something in this mortal world to wash the pain away, somewhere where the healing began. 

She could not send him away, and he was already there, standing in the doorway. Lord Buddha help her, she was riven all over again by the sight of him. 

"Your Majesty," her voice was an empty whisper, befitting the ghost she had become. 

He stepped forward, his eyes regarding her the same as before, with amorous affection. It was not at all the same man who had attacked her last night, maybe that was a demon, one of the hungry ghosts who had taken his form. She had heard a story like that once. 

"I have decided," he said, smiling. "Tonight I will make you my consort. I will name you Meifie, my Plum Concubine." He stepped forward, she flinched as his hands lifted her face, his eyes soft. "Even if I have a thousand beauties in all the Six Palaces, you will always be my only love. I will never forsake you." His mouth closed over hers, she shook with sobs as she let him kiss her, his lips felt warm and filthy at the same time. 

Inside her heart was sinking, she felt ravaged a second time. A concubine? That was nothing, no power, no freedom, just his plaything at night. She wanted to be his only wife, not the favorite of a thousand. 

~ * ~ 

Lady Jiang lifted her face from her hands as Mulan set the tea down. Her cheeks were streaked with tears, her eyes rimmed with dark circles from a long night of crying. Pouring her friend a cup, Mulan's teeth were still gritted in anger after what Lady Jiang had told her. So this was what happened last night between the Emperor and Shang, he had not said. It was no like Shang to lose his temper so easily, and he barely tolerated Lady Jiang for some reason Mulan did not know. The events of the previous night hardly made sense. 

"Concubine?" Mulan handed her tea. "Only a concubine? I thought he loved you. He can't just go and have any woman he wants. Emperor or not. He owes you more than that, how can you accept?" 

The other woman shook her head, wiping at her eyes. "How can I refuse? My only other choice is to commit suicide." 

Mulan sighed, what kind of a man could treat a woman that way? She almost wished Shang had killed him, if it weren't for the consequences. Li Longji may be a good ruler, but a crime like that did not deserve to go unpunished. 

"Have you told your father?" Mulan poured her own tea, but did not feel like drinking it after Lady Jiang shook her head. "How can you just accept this? Being a concubine when he wanted to be Empress? Isn't it enough that he took away your wedding night?" Rubbing her own eyes, she sank into the sofa. "I wish Taiping were still here. She would find justice for you." 

Lowering her face, Lady Jiang gazed into her tea. "You know, Wu Zetian was always my hero. Whether I agreed with her methods or not, it didn't matter to me. She gave my sisters and I hope that if we opposed her, our daughters might have a chance to make our mark in the world, and show the people that a woman is not worthless. But the time for women like Taiping and Wu Zetian is over, and we are supposed to be happy for it? Look what happens to us when the men are in power again? You can't imagine how happy the Court is to see with child like a proper wife. They consider it a triumph. There's nothing to come for us but suffering, Mulan, women like you and Taiping and Wu Zetian only made our lives easier for awhile." 

Mulan looked down at herself. Instead of the armor or training clothes she would usually be wearing at this time of day, she was sitting there in a silk dress now. It was true, she had been out less and less of late, but she had not been feeling well, and with his promotion to rank Tai-shan had taken some of those duties off her hands in light of her condition. She had not thought of it in the way Lady Jiang seemed to. Still, Mulan made a promise to herself, the same promise she had made in the temple with Taiping. She would never forget her duty.   
  
  
  



	3. Part 3

0plum3

Part Three 

~ * ~ 

Slamming down his cup, General Xin looked over at Shang. "You know what my men keep saying, General Li?' With a shrug, Shang drank from his own cup, knowing he was going to be sick in the morning. "They say they don't know what they're losing sleep for, keeping guard late at night. They say they're tired of serving an emperor they never see, he's always in his bedroom making heirs with that Meifei. Hurts morale and I can't keep discipline anymore without some cocky son of a bitch answering back, asking me why we even bother. Look at us even, we've been drinking all night. The Tujue could move right on us, and would we give a damn?" Taking a long draught, he broke into rough laughter. 

Lowering his cup, Shang glanced around him. He did not usually drink this much, but the fact was he was bored, and Mulan did not seem to want him around tonight. There they were, four officers slumped outside against the Palace Wall, just as lazy as new recruits. It was true Longji had been rather scarce these past few weeks, and Mulan had said she'd hardly talked to Meifei at all, the Emperor never let her out of his bedchamber. And when she did see her, Meifei wasn't happy at all and hardly felt like talking. Mulan spent the weeks worried about her, even when they had gone home for Tie-lin's wedding. 

"Really," Tai-shan laughed, sprawled at Shang's side. His new brother-in-law was so full of liquor he was barely coherent. "Tie-lin would beat me with her slipper if I neglected my duty. That reminds me, Shang, you remember that night at the Wall when we found the girls again? Tie-lin let me wash her hair, and rub her feet that night." He rolled over on the ground laughing as if it were the most hilarious thing in the world. Shang glared at him, then kicked him in the side. 

"So anyway," Captain Liu shook his head at Tai-shan, as did everyone else. "We've got to do something about this Meifei, maybe eliminate her before this Empire falls apart. Start losing control of our troops and you get officials with big ideas. The army is what holds Xuanzong's power, it's been that way from the start. He loses that and he's just as dead as his father, and what? For a girl? She must be a witch, maybe another Empress Wu." 

Shang blinked, taking another sip from his cup. "She's an eighteen year old girl who was raped in the garden when he was drunk. She's not to blame." 

"Hmm," General Xin looked thoughtful. "Pity for her. And who's to say, if she were gone, that he wouldn't find another woman, or man. The fact is he's a pervert." Looking around cautiously, he dropped his voice. "Heard my father say that when the Emperor was a boy, living in the west with some general or another, the general's wife let her manservent have his way with him. He was eight years old at the time. Father said when the lady died he spat on her coffin and cursed her all the way to the grave. The general thought he was mad, so he gave him to another general. Makes you almost feel sorry for him. He's been tumbling everything he can into his bed ever since." 

"A man?" Tai-shan sat up, rubbing his head and snickering. "You should have seen him a few weeks ago with our favorite general here." Shang swore as Tai-shan threw himself on top of him, knocking them both to the ground. "Oh, I love you, cousin!" he purred dramatically, pressing a sloppy drunken kiss to Shang's cheek. "Let me call off my guards so we can consummate our passion!" Locking his arms around Shang's neck, Tai-shan rolled himself under him while the other two howled in laughter. 

Wrenching his arm free, Shang balled his hand into a fist and punched his friend in the eye, pulling out of his hold and sitting upright again, leaving Tai-shan writhing on the floor in wheezing laughter. 

Captain Liu refilled his cup with an amused grunt, then topped off Tai-shan's cup as well, not that he needed it. "Well I don't care if he was the plaything of the entire army or if the Jade Emperor snatched him away in a dream. The point is, this is trouble. My father died fighting for him, my father hoped this corruption would end and the empire would be stable once more. This is dishonor. He's supposed to be the Son of Heaven, a father to his people, not make the Palace a whorehouse! Well when the rebellion starts, and the Tujue come again, I won't lift a sword for him and it won't be my disgrace." 

"Me neither," General Xin nodded. "It would have been much better if the throne had gone to you instead, Li Shang." 

He stiffened, this was conspiracy and treason on the other man's tongue, and not idle either. "The country is doing well now actually." Shang looked around him, choosing his words carefully. He was not too drunk to forget that Li Longji might have spies about. 

Captain Liu lowered his voice. "Only because the eunuchs manage the officials and everything else for him, and it's only because the other generals respect you that the military is strong. That keeps any ambitious official from making a move on Xuanzong. You may not know it, but you are holding the Empire together, Li Shang. But the moment you lift your sword against Xuanzong, you'll find an army behind you. Longji won't have a chance and they'll cheer his death as they do every other traitor. And yes, I say he's a traitor, abusing the Mandate of Heaven to pamper and pleasure himself, when he promised us something more. It'll bring us all down someday. Think on it." 

"More to drink anyone?" 

The words made them all jump, remembering the danger of the discussion through their stupor. Shang turned his head dizzily in the direction of footsteps, then leaned his head back when he saw it was only Zhong Xiong. Come the morning, sick was going to be an understatement, Shang did not even think he could stand, and the same went for his companions for that matter. 

Setting down a pitcher, Xiong lowered himself to sit across from Shang, tugging his mustache as he leaned in closer, his voice hushed. "You know what General An supposedly sent from the border? The Turks are building their army again, even after Shan-yu's death. Isn't that something? They're getting money from good trade. And us? The money the army should be receiving has gone to buying Meifei gold threaded robes and furnishing her with all this feasting and jewelry. You know, instead of sending us to the border to protect our people, he sends my men to guard his bedchamber door while he enjoys her, and he'll only have the most elite soldiers for that duty mind you." 

"You think that's bad?" Lieutenant Xin challenged, glaring into his cup. "He ordered my men to guard her while she picks flowers, to hold her parasol over her head so the sun won't burn her white skin. We're soldiers, not handmaidens. I'm tired of this. Li Shang you've got to do something?" 

Setting his cup aside for good, Shang tried through the heady fog of his stupor to reason out the situation. He had known for some time that his attention to Meifei was at the least unwise for a new Emperor, but he had endured it to keep the peace. That peace was precious, even if he found himself covering for Longji from time to time, seeing matters taken care of for him because he simply did not trust him to remember. It had not mattered that he had gained some power in the process, that had never been important to him. He had done this out of piety for Taiping, it gave him a new sense of contentment, easing his guilt that surrounded her death. But the seeds of rebellion had sprouted on their own, and it was still on his hands. The fact was, if Longji failed, he failed Taiping as well, she had entangled their fates now. Longji, such a puzzle, he wanted power but not responsibility, glory, but he was afraid of suffering. Maybe Taiping had misjudged, maybe her love for him had blinded her into choosing the wrong man. But who was left? Him? He shook his head that was beginning to throb already. 

Lifting his cup in a toast, Captain Liu gave a dazed smile. "I'm willing to toast you the new Emperor of China, Li Shang. You've saved us from the Turks twice already, you and General Fa. If you were Emperor, I know you wouldn't turn your back on your people. If it's civil war you're worried about, that'll come if you do nothing. Show Longji a sword, and he'll back down." 

"Here, here!" General Liu and Xiong both joined in, and then Tai-shan too after a moment. 

Folding his arms, Shang sighed, looking up at the sky. _Ch'ang-an, long lasting peace _Taiping's words seemed to echo from the grave. At her funeral, he had made a promise to himself, that he would dedicate his life to seeing her dream realized, peace in the city and in the Court. She had left him with enough authority to do it, the army to balance out Longji and the politicians. He had chosen to honor her as a student would his master, or a son his mother. Her dream was for peace, and now Longji was feeding the dissension anew. The very worst thing was that his cousin did not see it, how he dishonored her memory with his appetite for excess. The country may be well now, flourishing even, but as they say the sun sets on everything. One day, Longji's decadence would lead the empire into ruin. 

~ * ~ 

Shang recoiled as though a sword had pierced through his skull when Mulan drew back the curtains the next morning. Burying his face into the cool pillow next hide, he tried to find relief from the intruding daylight. 

"It's almost noon," Mulan reminded with a false patience. "Shouldn't you be up?" For the first time, he felt like shaking her. He was feeling horrible, and she knew it too. 

"I don't feel well," he mumbled into the pillow. "I don't think any of my expected to see me today." 

Grabbing his shoulder, she managed to roll him over to face her. He flinched and immediately shielded his eyes with his hand. "Well maybe if you hadn't come stumbling in here in the middle of the night! It's amazing you didn't kill yourself just trying to go to bed." 

"Look, I'm sorry, Mulan," his eyes were becoming accustomed to the light now. "There's trouble." Rubbing his head, he sat up groggily. 

Finally showing some sympathy, she sat down beside him and let him rest his head on her shoulder. "Since when did you drink when there was trouble?" 

"I have. I was just better at hiding it." Sighing, he frowned. "It's your friend, Meifei. The soldiers are unhappy with Longji for the way he dotes on her. The Turks are building their army again and he is draining the treasury. They hint at overthrowing him, they expect me to do something." 

"Something?" Mulan repeated quietly. "Why not talk to him, remind him of Taiping's wish." 

Taiping, his head throbbed with the name. She was the only link of understanding between he and Longji, and that one spark of bitter contention. 

"I don't know," he closed his eyes. "You see the problem though? Something has to be done. It'd make you want to drink too." 

She gave him a wry look. "In case you've forgotten, I'm pregnant." He patted her stomach, already beginning to swell. She slapped his hand away playfully, not appreciating the patronizing gesture. "I think it's going to be a girl. I don't know how I know, but I can just sense it." 

Shang shrugged. "You would know better than I." Climbing out of bed at last, he untied his hair and rubbed his head again. "I guess I should try and find him today." 

~ * ~ 

Shang swore as he strode back into his apartments that evening. For seven hours he had tried to talk to Longji. Tai-shan had told him earlier it was becoming dangerous, some officer was bribing a servant to poison Meifei's wine, while another officer had bribed another servant to drown her in the bath. Tai-shan was remarkably adept at acquiring information. 

The impending struggle was the most frightening. After Meifei was dead, they would push him to usurp Longji's position, and if he refused he would die along with Longji if it came to that. It was tiring, this cursory loyalty. 

Mulan was sitting at the table when he came in, dressed in full armor, her face painted with worry as she concentrated on the piece of paper in her hand. She looked up when she saw him and set the paper down. "It's Meifei. She's runaway, I think to drown herself, she left me a poem that mentions the River Wei. She says she is filled with shame for what she has caused." 

Caused? Shang shook his head. She was an innocent woman who found herself the plaything of a too indulgent Emperor, nothing more. "They have been plotting to kill her," he told Mulan quietly. 

"We have to stop her!" She did not seem to hear him. 

Sighing, he sank into the chair across from her. "That could be dangerous, Mulan, there's already enough scandal surrounding her as there is." 

"What?" Crumpling up the paper, she fed it to the candle flames, her attention so fixed on him he had to pull her hand away before her fingertips were seared. Jerking it out of his hold angrily, she stood up. "Well I'm not going to let my friend die. If you're not coming with me, than fine. But don't try to stop me." 

He watched her a minute, rubbing his head. The sad truth was, it be much easier if Meifei died, he gained some new respect for her in that. But it was still a wasted life, not just a spark that ignited these troubles. She was Mulan's friend, he sighed again, dreading to imagine what contempt his wife must hold for him now. 

"Alright," he relented. "I'll come with you. I'll even get Tai-shan." 

~ * ~ 

Gazing at the figure on the bed in dazed rapport, Longji permitted himself a smile. It was only a moment ago that Li Shang had been writhing under his sword, and now he lay still as Longji spread the white sheet over him. His only family, and greatest rival had died at last. In that, he found such a sense of satisfaction. 

His fingers reached up of their own accord, trailing lightly across the stilled features through the thin cloth. He remembered well that handsome face, almost like his reflection in the mirror, those solemn dark eyes. Slowly, he withdrew the cloth again, wanting to be certain the man was really dead. 

When the cloth slid away he jumped back. The face that regarded him was painfully familiar, a face that had not fled his thoughts for a moment during these weeks. He dropped to his knees on the rug, under those eyes that were so full of anguish and reproach. 

"Longji," Taiping moaned sadly, the cry of a mortal drawing her final breath. "You have roused me from the grave. I had hoped to leave this world in peace and now there is only more strife." 

"No," The Emperor shook his head, there were tears in his eyes and he could not bear them. "Taiping, don't leave me again." He reached for her hand, but just before his fingers could grasp hers she was dissolved into the air. Only the white shroud remained. He clutched in pitifully, letting it soak up his tears. 

"Your Majesty!" 

Something called him back to the other world, the world of reality. He opened his eyes with a groan of pain, not knowing what was worse, to see the torment on her face or to be trapped in a world where he could not see her face at all. But the rousing voice of his servant held an urgency which demanded his attention. 

"You must come quickly, Your Majesty." 

A candle flickered alight, a pale sheet of parchment laid in his hands. He unfolded it carefully, reading the words, before storming out of the blankets to find his clothes. 

~ * ~ 

Mulan was ahead of Shang as she ran through the mist, the night bore a sharp chill, but her blood was warm from their haste. Her gaze slipped between the trees and she spotted the river, a ribbon of muted aqua now against the dull moonlight, spotted with shadows like water stained silk. Up and down she combed the riverbank with her eyes, until she found the figure she had been searching for. 

"Meifei!" It was a cry of pleading and relief. "Shang! Tai-shan!" She called over her shoulder. "I've found her!" Then running again she dropped to her knees beside her friend. 

Meifei appeared startled when she raised her head, so intent on staring the water. Mulan found herself staring at it too, still and tranquil before her. "Mulan," she spoke at last, reaching out one white hand to clasp her friend's warmly. "I never thought you would follow me." 

"You don't have to do this," Mulan urged quietly, meeting her eyes that were very lost. "There must be somewhere you can-" 

The bitter laugh stopped her. "I would be executed. It is just better this way. Isn't that true, Li Shang?" Her eyes fixed themselves just beyond Mulan. 

She turned to see Shang kneeling close at her shoulder, with Tai-shan standing behind him, arms folded. Both men wore a puzzled look of guilt. "It isn't you, Meifei, its Longji, and he's not worth throwing your life away for." 

"The strange thing is that I love him," she mused to no one in particular, tracing her fingers in the grass. 

Mulan was shocked. "How could you?" 

"Well, you still love your husband, don't you? You told me he almost executed you." 

Behind her, Mulan could Shang's mood shift with the reminder of that unpleasant memory. They had tried to put it past them. But it was not at all the same thing as being raped, not at all. It was Shang who first spoke though. "If you love him, Meifie, that's your affair. Go back, teach him to do right and remember his responsibilities. Consider it part of your duty as a wife, and to the Empire." 

"But I-" she stopped, a shout from the other side of the river interrupted her. 

"Li Shang, you will die for this!" 

On her feet now, Mulan followed Shang's eyes across the river. A flicker of light appeared between the trees, a drawn blade, and then a dozen armored riders. Longji was leading them, aiming his sword at Shang while his escort held crossbows on the rest of them. Mulan stood frozen, along with Shang and Tai-shan. Only Meifei stepped forward. 

"Stay where you are or I'll drown myself!" 

"Meifei... " Shang protested quietly. 

Longji dismounted, coming forward, though his men did not move. "Li Shang, if she dies I'll see to it you're whole family will join her!" 

Without a word, Meifei leapt forward, diving into the river. It happened so quickly. Shang barely turned around, waving a hand at Tai-shan and all of a sudden he had Mulan's arm and was dragging her away back through the trees. She heard another splash, but had no choice but to keep running. 

~ * ~ 

It was a soldier's instinct that made Shang jump after Meifei into the water, saving a life was a reflex that had been ingrained in him for some eight years. He drew in his breath. The icy shock of the river burned through his skin as he crashed through the water, trying to concentrate on pushing through those freezing depths. Meifei would drown within a few moments and Mulan would never forgive him. 

He managed to catch her garments, the silk stretching under his fingers before he could get an arm around her waist. She clung to his neck as they broke the surface, frightened and struggling for breath. He held on to her as he tried to turn back, but Longji was already in the water. 

"You're a fool, Li Shang," he chuckled as he pried Meifei out of Shang's arms, locking one arm around Shang in a hold the general could not shake. Shang kicked, struggled, the other man was trying to force him back in the water, to drown him. Twisting one leg around the other man's, Shang managed to hold fast to him long enough for them to reach to shore, the wrong shore. But he had a better chance of fighting the guards than surviving in the icy water for long. 

Somehow Meifei disappeared from his vision, though he could hear coughing, freeing the water from her lungs. He was still entangled with Longji, legs and arms, weighed down by wet clothing. They wrestled furiously there on the river bank, kicking and struggling for dominance in the fight. 

Shang thought he had won, finally, sprawled on top of Longji and pinning him with his elbow twisting behind his back, holding Longji down with his knees. But then there were footsteps behind him, just a whisper on the soggy grass. Something struck Shang on the back of the head and he was dragged into darkness.   
  
  



	4. Part 4

0plum4 A special note for Maddy: As for "screwing up" a "perfectly good G-rated movie" (or whatever) I'd advise you to pick up a history book, learn a few FACTS and tell me just who screwed up what? In my far from humble opinion a war movie should not be G-rated in the first place. I'm SO sorry my integrity as a writer disagrees with you, but the fact is, I'd rather paint an ACCURATE picture than a watered-down one (no offense to the movie or Disney) so at least someone who reads my work might actually find it informative - whether it be about what a misogynist Emperor Xuanzong actually was, or what it feels like when a woman has an orgasm. So instead of me "doing that with some other movie" why don't you keep your uneducated, immature, narrow-minded, puritanical paws of my R-rated story and go read/write a G-rated one! I'm an adult, my writing reflects that. Goddess forbid!

~ The Very Irate but Apologetic to the Rest of You   
Lian-hua 

Part Four 

~ * ~ 

It was the sense of heaviness that first greeted Shang when he returned to consciousness. Everything was dark, even before he opened his eyes, his limbs felt so weighed down, as if he were drowning in black water. He heard the crackling of the torches before he saw the light, swimming and smeared through his watering eyes against the far wall. 

It was their smoke that stung, acrid, burning. He made a move to rub his eyes and clear his vision, but turned puzzled in half alert amazement that his hand would only go so far. The clank of metal rang in his ears and suddenly his mind made the connection. He had been captured and taken to the dungeon. Shang wondered if he had been drugged, the watery feeling in his limbs was from more than the struggle with Longji, and never before had he been so sluggish in coming around after being wounded in combat. 

Mulan, Meifei, the first clear thoughts rushed to him with a prickling nervousness. Meifei had been captured too, but had Mulan escaped with Tai-shan? 

Suddenly Shang realized he was not alone. Blocky figures sailed into his line of vision, two, three of them. Prison guards. No, Longji's bodyguard, men he had appointed himself. 

"He's awake," the first one said. 

Shang blinked, recognizing the face and voice of the speaker. "Chen, you bastard. If it weren't for me, you'd be dead right now." The words may have been drowsy, but the anger was still sharp. Yang Chen, a man whose life he had saved with quick reflex at the Wall. A man he had gone on to train and appoint as one of Longji's guards. 

With a snarl, the older man slung his arm back to deal him a harsh blow across the face. Shang endured it without crying out, he was too groggy to realize pain. "You gave me a black eye the first day of training. I always wanted to repay you." 

A second guard pushed his way in front of Chen, yet this one's name Shang did not know. "You broke my ribs then made me pick up rice all night!" Standing back, he landed a kick to Shang's chest. He waited for the third to approach and have his revenge, but the man only stood there. Strange, but he felt more disappointment than anger, that he had wasted his time and skill on them. Poor judge of character. 

He looked his two attackers in the eye by turn. "You have no honor," he said quietly. 

The third blow came too quickly to see who had delivered it, but within the blink of an eye Shang fell unconscious again. 

~ * ~ 

Mulan lowered herself to one knee on the grass, beside Tai-shan whose eyes were darting around worriedly. Darkness had fallen already, leaving the landscape deeply saturated with shadows, though the moonlight was muted tonight. 

Removing his helmet, Tai-shan turned to her. "I don't know, Mulan," he said quietly, as if she had posed a question. "Shang and Longji have hated each other for years. Longji won't waste the chance to kill him. If we're going to do something, it has to be quickly. But if we enter the Palace grounds it might be trouble." 

"What do you mean 'if?'' Mulan returned hotly. "We have to do something." 

"I know but..." He let his words trail off, replacing his helmet again and rising to his feet. Tai-shan might have thought to hide it, but Mulan could see his nervousness. "Just give me a minute to think of something. What would Tie-lin do?" Tie-lin? Mulan groaned, this was no time for the soft way. 

"Look, all we need is a plan to reach the Emperor before he can issue orders to execute Shang. I'll sneak into the Palace and-" 

He cut her off. "Mulan, do you know what he'd do to me if he found out I allowed you to endanger yourself? I'll gather some of the men, march on the prison and free him. The Emperor would not miss making Shang's execution public, so we have time." 

"I don't care what he'll do, at least he'll be alive to do it." Mulan did not have time for their silly ideas of honor. "I'm going. Besides, I'd like to get my hands on Longji. Matter of honor." There, he could understand that. Standing up, she donned her own helmet, surveyed the scene and made ready. 

His hand was on her arm. "Just be careful, alright? Carrying a child and all." 

Glancing down at herself, she nodded. The armor may have hid her pregnancy but she was still well aware of it. "Wait here, and if I need you to go get your men, you'll know." With that she left him, climbing over the Wall to see out a guard she could trust. 

~ * ~ 

It was the sound of footsteps that wrenched Shang awake this time. In the haze of pained sleep those boots pounded like thunder, the throbbing in his head increasing with their every step. He was vaguely aware that his clothes had dried now, but still the chill remained, clinging to him in the dankness of this place. 

"So you're awake?" The familiar voice did not conjure any rage this time, not yet, the triumph it held only made Shang more aware of how drained and tired he was. "I suppose you want to know how I've managed to catch you." 

The general shook his head, neck and shoulders aching. "It doesn't matter," he told his cousin quietly. 

Longji's mouth drew itself in a sneer, masking disappointment. "Well for your own peace of mind, it was Yang Chen. I set him to follow Meifei and that led me to you." Folding his arms, he paced in front of him, speaking with soft disapproval. "So the men want you as their new Emperor. You should tell them to care what they say when they're drunk, their conspiring almost cost Meifei her life, and it has delivered you right into my hands." 

"Betrayal and defeat are in the life of a soldier." Yet his apathy seemed to nettle Longji. 

"You know, cousin," he lowered his voice, his eyes taking on an almost remorseful cast. Or maybe it was only the candlelight. "I will have to execute you tomorrow." 

Shang sighed, letting go of his resistance a moment. The burning from the chains around his wrists stopped, the silence of this place like a tomb. It stretched, reached out and consumed him and in it's space allowed him to feel a longing he had never felt before. He had placed so little value on his own life, the military had taught him that it was worth nothing against the righteous preservation of his country and his people. But all of a sudden it seemed so precious, so delicate, a taste of something he had never thought had a taste at all. But when you lived your whole life for others, and for ideals, your own desires only haunted you when it was too late to pursue them. 

Dying so discontent was he doomed to become a ghost? One of the _gui _whose pain and regret was too much to be held by a tomb. 

"My family?" Shang said at last. "Mulan? If you harm her I will haunt you from the grave. You will never escape the wrath of my angry spirit." 

Longji's hand came up slowly, hesitantly as if to comfort him, brushing his fingertips tentatively against Shang's cheek. The tension returned in him and Shang strained with that unwelcome touch, no longer too tired to conjure the enmity which had fed this conflict in the first place. He felt his eyes burn as he stared at the other man. It was hatred, such pure hatred, and sadness under that. 

"Cousin," the Emperor's deep voice was uncharacteristically soft. "I do it all for Taiping. You have posed a threat, they have made you a threat to me. If I let you live how can this empire be strong?" He stepped closer, half whispering now. Shang would have given anything for a sword then. "But you will not die in vain. Your death will prove the Mandate of Heaven is mine. And if the people believe that, my power is absolute." Instead of withdrawing his hand as Shang's eyes demanded, Longji only continued running a finger along one side of his face. Shang felt his rage burn in the pit of his stomach. "I warned you never to defy me. Who would have thought my little cousin would become my greatest rival. Li Shang, you can take away my army but I can still conquer you." 

"Be careful," Shang growled, jerking forward in a clash of metal. "The people will hate a tyrant." 

"And as I said, they admire muscle." 

His slid his palm over Shang's chest, moving closer still, the touch lingering amorously. Shang straightened, the taut manacles burning into his wrists again. "I'm not afraid to die," he managed the lie well enough. 

Shaking his head, Longji's smile was cold, lifting Shang's face with a hand under his chin. "When did you become so hard? Somewhere inside there must be a spark of fear, a seed of doubt. Somewhere inside you must have a secret longing, that after tomorrow will die with you." The Emperors eyes were intent on his face, tinted with amber in the torchlight, a tiger's eyes. "Tell me cousin. I cannot let you die without ever really knowing you." 

"The Tao," Shang was surprised to find his answer honest before he could think up a lie. "I've always wanted to follow the Tao." 

Laughing softly, he took to stroking his face again. "Such a lofty dream, but your eyes have always been so full of a pain. If I hadn't hated you I might have wondered why. Look at you now, so powerless, you have no idea what a potent effect that has on me." His voice held a certain raspiness to it, Shang drew back as Longji leaned even nearer. 

The feel of the Emperor's mouth on his neck brought a sickening feeling into his stomach. It had him paralyzed, that intolerable sensation somewhere between repulsion and fear. He closed his eyes against the gentle pull of Longji's lips, fighting to push the scene from his awareness as the Emperor took too much care in letting his mouth linger over sensitive places. 

"Come now," The Emperor rasped in his ear. "Don't tell me the brave general is afraid of a jade spear." Pressed so close to him, Shang could feel the heaviness of the other man's breathing, seeing his face flushed when he opened his eyes again. "I promise you I'm quite skilled at blowing a bamboo flute." 

Fighting for some control over his own repulsion, Shang swallowed, managing to speak. "I'm not Meifei." The words resounded roughly. 

"You're right," Longji stepped back. "I regret that. I was drunk and thoughtless then, all I wanted was to destroy something. I have made it up to her. But I love her and I despise you, though that is really not so different." 

Then without preamble, he bent his head, pressing a kiss to Shang's shoulder before biting down on the delicate skin there. Shang's head jerked as he cried out in pain and surprise, straining against the chains once more. 

"To remind you," Longji murmured as he backed away. "That you are conquered." 

Shang watched him slip away into the shadows, vaguely aware of the door slamming behind him. The general glanced over at his shoulder, the skin reddened where Longji's teeth had punctured the flesh. His head fell back, eyes closed, wishing he could wash away the feel of the other man's lips on his skin. Some things were even worse than dying. 

~ * ~ 

Spreading the sheets over himself with a sigh, Longji closed his eyes and lay back dizzily. In the afterglow of his spent frustration, he thought he could surrender to sleep easily, but his thoughts were very lucid and troubled. His head echoed with Taiping's spoken words, telling him the Li family was being destroyed one man at a time. With the memory of those words Li Shang became a symbol, just another token left behind by her. She had been a part of him too. The truth was, the shameful truth, Longji had been so controlled by Taiping's ghost in his dreams that he had lashed out at everything in reality, especially Meifei and Fa Mulan. He had sought to undermine any vestige of female power left in the Court, yet when he closed his eyes at night, there was still Taiping. 

Li Shang did not understand, how torn he was. His indulgence towards Meifei was out of guilt, and yet his dream for the empire remained. How to balance the two? The Tao spoke of non-interference, claiming the best rulers were those who managed affairs so smoothly that they were forgotten themselves, the next best ruler was the man who was loved, and the worst feared. He had a mind to wipe out the Buddhists and Legalists, the tired teachings of Confucius that bound the court. His dream was for a Taoist China. Meifei had brought him to this revelation, the long nights of lying in her arms had shown just how tired of his old life he was. Do nothing, the Tao advised, keep to the role of the daughter. But what was all that worth when the people begged for a tyrant? He did not want to execute Li Shang, not practically speaking, the man could be of use to him. But the people cried for a conqueror now, the most base of standards. Let the two most powerful men cross blades, and they would take whoever was the winner. They cheapened the Mandate of Heaven to a mere trophy won by cunning and sport. Spectacle and victory, hadn't he given them enough of that in his warrior days? Wasn't it time to move on? 

Of course Li Shang did not understand, he was corrupted by all their ideals. He was too perfect. His obsession with Li Shang was far more destructive than Meifei. Even when he saw him an hour ago, chained and bruised, his still claimed power. A perfect martyr, unbending to the last. There was simply no yielding in him. All Longji had wanted since Taiping's death was to see the man on his knees. It was that which had distracted him, not Meifei, beautiful Meifei. For that Li Shang must die tomorrow. 

Tomorrow, the word sent him drifting into sleep, accompanied by swimming memories of the other man's face, Taiping's face... 

He awoke to being roughly seized by the arm. Jerking upright, he fumbled for a weapon. There was the rasping of steel being bared and then something shoved between in his lips. A sword's point grazed his torso, and then lower, just beneath his sash. 

"Imagine the worst," a woman's lowered voice hissed in his ear. 

A strong panic crept into him when he realized what it was that had been forced into his mouth, and quickly understood the threat considering where her sword was aimed. A boiled egg, something given to those about to be unmanned as punishment. His mind urged him to react but he dared not move, not with something so dire at stake. 

In his desperation, he tried to conjure a name to match the voice. It was not Meifei, not any of his concubines or servants, but familiar nonetheless. 

"You want to know how I got in here?" She continued, reading his mind. "I replaced one of your guards. I know what you did to my friend..." He gulped. Meifei, she wanted revenge for Meifei. Women could be dangerous, viscous, no honor. It was that knowledge which had him terrified. 

Turning his face to her, he fought to speak through the gap. She grumbled something but pulled the egg away. Taking a deep breath, he swallowed, suddenly realizing who his assailant was." Fa Mulan, you go too far. I could have you killed." 

Instead of relenting, she pressed the weapon just enough so he could feel its point. "I can't change Meifei's mind about staying with you, but I can still make demands. Call your guard, order them to free Li Shang, or you'll spend the rest of your life as a eunuch." He shuddered, he had heard of ransom but this was extreme. Then again this was the woman who had decimated an entire Hun army. 

"I can't do that," To his shame he was pleading with her. "I'll lose face before my people, they'll never respect me." 

"Would you rather lose something else?" Instinctively, he drew back before the prick of the blade dug any deeper. But for such a little woman, she had a strong grip. 

He drew in his breath, grasping for some inner stillness. Ten years he had spent on the battle field, eluding death his fair share of times. Yet in all those combat situations, none had taught him to deal with an angry woman. 

"Can we talk?" He ventured quietly. 

Her restraining arm did loosen a bit, but she made no move to lower her sword. "If you think you have no choice, you're wrong. You could tell the truth, that she ran away on her own. He was only trying to help her, and you know it. Only a coward let's an innocent man die so that he might save face." 

"If I say she ran away, I would have to execute her. I cannot do that." He lowered his head sadly, all this pain he had brought to Meifei. 

But suddenly she was the one who was pleading. "Think of Taiping." He flinched, he could not bear to hear that name aloud, Taiping, who haunted him endlessly. "She told me you were the only who ever really loved her, she spoke of all this faith in you. It was her faith in you that let her leave this world in peace. She told me how it tore her apart to see her family die. Think of how disappointed she must be in you, to kill the last man of her family. It must break her heart up there in Heaven." 

It took him several moments to realize she had withdrawn the blade, but even still he did not move. Of all the words that could strike him, torture him, she had chosen those. It was as if she knew about his nightmares, as if Li Shang had told her. Still, it was like some realized dark prophecy, in his mind's eye he could see Taiping turning away. All his life she had been the only one he truly loved, and now when he died he could not dare show his face to her in Heaven. 

"Alright," he sighed quietly. "You have won. But both of you leave Ch'ang-an, let me say I have banished him, allow me that much pride. Return to Louyang, Meng Tai-shan with you. Never return to Ch'ang-an unless I call for you." 

Facing him now, he saw the little woman fold her arms in the darkness, fully armored. Yet there was something soft about her. Had she been in his army, he would known instantly that she was a woman. 

"I think he will accept that," she answered at last. "Marshal Yu is in Louyang, and his family." It did not matter, anywhere were he was not a distraction. Giving him command of the troops at Louyang was nothing beside that. 

Finally allowing himself to be at ease again, he reached over to his bedside table. "Take this," he handed her his seal. "Tell the guards to free him. But leave tonight before the rumors spread though the city." 

Halfway to the door, she paused, turning slowly. "He said that deep inside he believe you are a good man. He may never see you again, but do not disappoint him, Or her," she added more softly." 

Watching her leave, just a shadow moving across the darkness - like Taiping's ghost - he sunk into the pillow again. Pulling the coverlet around him a second time that night, the Emperor closed his eyes, wondering if after Li Shang's parting, his dreams of Taiping would be freed of their former bitterness and pain. 

~ * ~ 

Shang lifted his head groggily when he heard the jostling of keys, raising heavy lidded eyes to see just who appeared inside the iron door. He was beyond dread now, resigned to his fate, so tired he had been dozing where he stood. 

It was a guard who entered, unlocking his chains. "The Emperor has pardoned you." 

The rough words reached his ears with some measure of disbelief, but he was too exhausted to really savor it. Instead he followed the guarded stoically, squared shoulders, even steps, numb to everything but the pain the wrists he kept rubbing. The brightness of the hall came as a shock to his burning eyes, stinging from hours of staring at nothing. In the flinching discomfort, he almost did not see Mulan standing there. 

She did not touch him, but fell in close at his side as they made their way up the stairs. "I struck a bargain with the Emperor. We must leave for Louyang tonight, with Tai-shan." Ah, the quick words, so insufficient. Before he realized it, he was staring at the mark on his shoulder again, just a covert glance out of the corner of his eye. 

Then pausing in step, he stiffened with worry, but his words were tenuous. "How?" 

Looking down, she avoided his eyes. "He may be the Emperor, but it's not impossible to sneak into his room at night." Under her shyness, he could have sworn she was boasting. 

"Mulan," a quiet scolding entered his words. "Never endanger your life for me." 

Her eyes met his briefly with a faint spark of stubbornness before she shook her head and continued walking. "Well I didn't do so bad. We're going home." 

"Home," he repeated, smiling to himself. Home was where Mulan was. 

~ * ~ 

"Read us a poem, Meifei," one of the other concubines pleaded. Several heads in the circle of women nodded their encouragement. 

Sighing, Meifei looked away from them a moment, her gaze lifting from the bright pavilion and turning east. An autumn mist had lingered just above the horizon, even thought it was nearly noon, shading it gray and aqua and such a pale blue that parts of the cliffs seemed indistinguishable from the hazed sky. Not far over those mountains lay the city of Louyang, where Mulan and General Li had gone. A wistful ache stirred in her heart, she had been given no chance to bid them farewell. 

"Alright," she nodded quietly, turning lightly through the pages of the book on her lap. 

> "The plum tree is made steadfast to bloom in winter   
But only to bear fruit under the springtime sun   
While the fragrance of magnolia whispers of freedom   
Like the dragon, how it desires to soar."

  
End of Part Three 


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